Jawbreaker
by mary48184
Summary: The JAG crew finds an unexpected diversion.


Summary: The JAG crew finds an unexpected diversion.

Spoilers: If it's in an episode, consider it fair game!

Disclaimer: JAG and its characters are all the property of Donald Bellisario and Bellisarius Productions, et al.

* * *

2032 Zulu  
JAG Headquarters  
Falls Church, Virginia 

On a mission, Harm strode purposefully over to the horizontal file cabinet that stood innocuously outside of his old office. It had been over a year since he'd returned to JAG to find that his old pal Sturgis had kicked him out of the prestigious corner spot, but it still burned to see the sword and submarine memorabilia instead of his sailboats and small wooden yellow bi-plane. Shaking off the darkening thoughts, Harm refocused his concentration on the task at hand and pulled open the cabinet's topmost drawer.

_beep... beep... beep..._

He'd just located the file he needed when the series of quiet electronic blips from off to his left caught his attention. Glancing over, he realized that the strange noises were filtering through Mac's office door, which was slightly ajar. Unable to see what she was doing because the blinds were drawn, Harm took a curious step forward when the sounds suddenly ceased. Frowning to himself, he turned back to the cabinet and pulled out the necessary manila folder.

_beep... beep... beep..._

"What on earth?" he muttered. Not bothering to shut the drawer, he crossed the distance to Mac's door in three long strides and poked his head into her office.

He found her sitting behind her desk, hunched over and overtly ignoring the stacks of court documents and other miscellaneous files that lay scattered about. The beeping noises were coming from the small, silvery object in her hands. Knocking softly on the wooden doorframe, Harm waited for her to look up. When she didn't respond, he cleared his throat.

"Mac?"

Still no reaction. Completely absorbed in whatever it was she was doing, Mac remained oblivious to his presence. Now more curious than ever, Harm stepped into the room.

"MAC."

Jumping at the unexpected interruption, she glanced around the room before meeting Harm's eyes.

"How long have you been standing there?" she accused. The way her hands moved to cover the small beeping machine didn't escape Harm's notice.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Maacccc..." He rolled his eyes.

She paused. "Oh, fine," she finally conceded. "If you must know, I got myself a PDA."

"A _what_?" Harm's eyes widened slightly.

"A PDA... Personal Digital Assistant. My old leather-bound planner finally died and I decided it was time for me to go high tech," she explained, holding it up for him to see. To her amusement, his expression immediately changed from one of incredulity to one of relief. "What did you think I meant?" she asked with a smile.

A wave of embarrassment washed through him at her teasing grin. Only a few days before Mattie had been expressing her disgust over several of her classmates' PDAs, otherwise known as 'public displays of affection'. Sidestepping the question, he moved closer and looked down at the small, computerized device.

"Why was it beeping?"

Now it was Mac's turn to blush. "I needed a break and thought I'd try one of the games," she mumbled sheepishly. "I guess I must have gotten a little carried away."

"A game? What kind of game?" Harm asked as he reached for the arm of one of the chairs across from her desk. Dragging it over, he sat beside her.

"It's called 'Jawbreaker'," she explained, using the stylus to tap the screen lightly. With each double-tap, the tiny machine emitted a soft beep, the same sound Harm had heard from outside in the bullpen. "The goal is to clear out as many of the little colored balls as you can." The game continued to beep as she played. "I was trying to beat my high score."

Intrigued, Harm looked at her with a small smile. "Can I try?"

* * *

"Excuse me, Colonel, but have you seen—" 

Pushing the door to Mac's office open, Petty Officer Jennifer Coates pulled up short at the sight of the two senior attorneys huddled together behind the desk.

"—Commander Rabb? That would be a yes, so never mind," she finished with a chuckle, stepping into the room. Taking a closer look at the object in the Commander's hands, the young woman's face lit up. "Ooh, is that a PDA?"

"Does everyone know what a PDA is except me?" Harm groused.

"I bought it a few days ago," Mac grinned. "It's got some pretty interesting games. Want to see?"

"Sure!" Jennifer grinned before remembering to whom she was speaking. "Ma'am."

* * *

_beep... beep... beep..._

Fifteen minutes later the three coworkers were still playing with the little electronic device. With her very first game Jennifer had scored 828, blowing Mac's previous record out of the water. Now the two senior litigators were taking turns trying to reclaim the lead while the Petty Officer looked on smugly.

Watching over Harm's shoulder, Mac was about to point out an obvious move when a sharp knock sounded on the door. Before they could react the door swung inward to reveal a very annoyed Rear Admiral A.J. Chegwidden.

Momentarily frozen by the shock of being caught red-handed, it only took seeing their commanding officer crossing his arms over his chest to spur them to their feet. In a flash, all three stood at attention, hands at their sides and eyes focused forward.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded. A spark of irrational glee flickered as his subordinates shifted uncomfortably.

"Petty Officer," the Admiral growled, "Do you recall my instructing you to have Commander Rabb report to my office immediately?"

"I do, sir." Jennifer's voice was firm as she remained at attention.

"And when did I send you to find him?"

"Twenty minutes ago, sir."

"Did he report to me as ordered?"

"No he did not, sir."

"Why is that, Petty Officer?"

"Because I forgot to give him the message, sir."

The Admiral paused, eyeing his three staff members. "All of you, in my office NOW!"

"Aye aye, sir," Jennifer, Harm and Mac chorused. Exchanging a glance with Harm as he and Jennifer swiftly exited, Mac moved to put the PDA in its cradle when Admiral Chegwidden's voice echoed through her office.

"Is that new, Colonel?"

Looking up, she realized that he was still standing over her desk. "Yes, sir. I bought it a few days ago."

"Francesca has something similar; she showed me how to use it when she last visited Washington." His eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Yours didn't happen to come with 'Jawbreaker', did it?"

Mac nearly choked. "As a matter of fact, sir, it did."

"I see." Nodding thoughtfully, the Admiral paused before turning to leave. "Addicting game. Highest score I ever got was 1103." With that, he was gone.

Staring after him, Mac stood in stunned silence for a handful of seconds. Then, realizing that she hadn't been excused from reporting to his office, she quickly smoothed down the front of her uniform and followed. _Harm's never gonna believe this,_ she thought to herself as she closed the office door behind her.

**_FIN_**

* * *

A/N: For the record, I have no idea if a score of 1103 is even possible with Jawbreaker... my highest score is 582, LOL! 


End file.
